Footprints in the Sand

 

Mary’s Monday Musings to Quilt Encouragement

Footprints in the Sand

Tiny little footprints, waffle soles of sporting shoes, delicate three pronged bird tracks. What an interesting variety of footprints I saw in the sand on my early morning walk down the beach. For a short time a long footprint, deeply imprinted in the packed sand was beside baby size footprints. Maybe a Daddy held the hand of a little one just learning to walk, and he picked a stumbling child up. Bird prints and crab tracks were alongside dog prints, both large size dogs and small prancing doggies. Most puzzling were the places where a lovely pattern, almost like a plant, with the look of tall kelp growing under water, except it was imprinted on the sand. Could a clump of seaweed washed up on the sand have made the print when it was swept back into the sea?  Could it have been a giant sea turtle coming in or going out? Probably not. If a turtle came in to lay eggs, officials would immediately cordon off the area where the eggs were buried to give tiny turtle a chance to hatch and survive their journey back to the ocean. No. These beautiful sand etchings were left by the strength of the receding sea in interesting patterns for us to enjoy until the tide rose again.

 

I look at my own footprints, rather faint on the water packed sand, insignificant amongst the myriad of other footprints and solitary because of the early hour of the walk. Is my life, is your life, is anyone’s life more significant than a brief imprint on the earth for a short time in history? Our significance in life lies more in the footprints we leave in people’s hearts than the physical evidence of accomplishments and achievements on this earth. Did we leave a mark of love in a heart that needed reassurance at just the right moment? Do we speak encouragement that leaves imprints on a discouraged heart?  Do we know how to reflect God to the weary sojourner on this earth? We can ask our God to keep us alert to the moments we can make an impression on another’s life and ask for the ability to leave a strong, lasting imprint that makes a difference in the lives we impact as we walk through our days.